


Sleeping Beauty (my way)

by RayOfSunshindBoy



Category: Angel: the Series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Everything turns out okay because reasons, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-07
Updated: 2017-04-07
Packaged: 2018-10-15 22:05:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10558450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RayOfSunshindBoy/pseuds/RayOfSunshindBoy
Summary: Sorry for the almost het. And the mentioned child abuse. And this entire story.





	

**Author's Note:**

> No offense meant. To anybody.
> 
> Trigger Warning! Attempted molestation (like in the original story, except in the actual story it actually happened) and child abuse. I apologize for all of this, but in my offense, the original Andersen fairytales were WAY worse.

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful kingdom, called by many the Kingdom Of The Sun. It was ruled over and guarded by two beautiful, kind Queens.

One, with hair red as fire, eyes as green as the tree she was named for, was called Wise Willow, for her knowledge was great. The other, with eyes blue and boundless as the sea and hair like golden wheat was Gentle Tara, and she ruled with compassion and grace. The two queens loved each other deeply, and had been childhood friends and known each other for most of their lives. Though, they both had one great sorrow: as they were both women, they would never have children of their own.

One autumn day, as Queen Tara was walking through the garden, admiring the crisp colors of the season and pulling her shawl tighter, for it was cold indeed, she heard what sounded like a child's cry.

She wondered what it might be, stopping and looking around. There was nothing in the garden but the trees, flowers, and plants she and her wife had grown together. Tara thought it might have been a bird, starting her walk again. But then she heard the same cry, coming from underneath a bush. It sounded like a frightened baby, and the sound broke gentle Tara's heart. No child should sound that scared.

She ran to the bush as fast as her walking boots would carry her, and knelt down to pull the branches away. She heard another odd sound, almost like a cat's purr. As she pulled away the branch, she saw a sweet but heartbreaking sight.

There was a child, perhaps three or younger, under the wide, low hanging branches. It was clear that something had cleared this space for it. The child had long brown hair, with brown eyes bright with tears. He was dirty, dressed in rags, with what looked like bruises on his arms and legs. Tara's eyes filled with tears of her own to see a baby in such a state. There was a kitten, sandy brown with large blue eyes, curled up in the child's lap, purring as if trying to comfort him.

The queen bit her lip, wondering what to do. She knew that you should never disturb wild animals, and if she picked up the baby the cat might be startled and scratch him. She would never forgive herself if this child was harmed any further.

She whispered "Kitty? Kitty kitty?" in an attempt to get the cat to move. It stared at her as if personally offended. Tara slowly, carefully reached into the bush and grabbed the kitten as quickly as she could, and to her relief it hissed at her but it's claws remained sheathed. The baby, however, began to cry at the loss of comfort and Tara set the kitten down at once and lifted him out as gently as she could. The kitten watched from the grass attentively. 

She held the child as she had held her cousins when she was young. The child cried and she was worried the she was hurting him just by holding him. She carried the baby back to the castle, where he fell into a slumber. 

"Willow!", she cried as she burst in through the doors. "Willow, there is something terribly wrong!"

Her wife came at once, concerned. She had been in the middle of an important meeting with the king of the neighboring kingdom, and she knew that her wife would not interrupt without just cause. "What is it, darling? What causes you such distress?"

Tara showed her dark skinned child in sorrow. "He was under a bush. I don't know why he would be there, but I think he's in pain."

The queens took him to their healer, and waited anxiously to hear if he was all right. The healer told him that the child was fine, if very frightened and hungry. Willow and Tara thanked the healer and went back to the castle. Once there, Willow asked Tara if they should try and find his parents.

Tara reluctantly agreed, since it was the right thing to do. But she had grown very fond of the infant, and knew that it would break her heart to part with him. 

They searched for months, but nobody knew the child or where he could have come from. Willow, in the ensuing time she spent with him, came to love the little boy also. He was a sweet child, curious and with a tendency to wander. Through it all, the kitten stayed by his side, guarding his bed at night and playing with him in the day. Once five months had passed, the queens gave up on trying to find his parents. They called him Charles and named him heir to their throne. The two of him loved him like a son.

A year after Tara had found him, they held a small celebration. They invited three of their closest friends, who had drifted apart over the years, and wanted to get together again. Buffy, the knight, who traveled the land rescuing people in distress, Xander, the advisor to the neighboring kingdom, and Dawn, the traveling minstrel, who spread information throughout the land with her songs, since the people had no other news sources. Charles, now about four years old, met and liked all of them, for they were kind and honorable people. 

Unfortunately, trouble was on the horizon. There came, in a crack of thunder, an uninvited guest: Jasmine.

Jasmine had once been a part of their circle of friends, but had tried to usurp the throne of the Kingdom of the Sun. She had killed the then Princess Tara's parents, and tried to take the throne for herself. But Tara, the heir and rightful ruler, banished her from the kingdom. Jasmine had shown her true side: vicious, cruel, and cunning. 

"Jasmine! How dare you set foot in our kingdom again!", cried Queen Tara.

"How dare  _you_ take my child from me!", Jasmine yelled. "The boy was stolen from me by those damn faeries! 'Protecting children', phah! A few bruises and cuts build character!"

"No they don't", Xander tried to cut in.

"But I cannot reclaim him. The faeries made sure of that. If I take him from this castle, my bones will instantly melt, and my soul shall burn. But if I can't have the boy, nobody will!", she screamed. Charles, startled by the noise, started to cry.

"Agh! The screeching of squalling infants!  He would be out of that by now if those damn faeries hadn't taken him! I place a curse on you, brat: the day you fall in love, you shall die on the spot! Now that's a curse", she cackled, disappearing in another clap of thunder.

Tara started to weep, as did Dawn and Xander, for nobody deserved this horrible curse, least of all an innocent child. Willow picked up her son (she didn't care who his birth parent was, that witch did not deserve the title of mother) and thought. There had to be a way to prevent this. She would not let this happen.

"I may be able to help", said a timid voice from behind her. The queen turned, to see her beloved librarian, Andrew. Not many people knew that Andy had fae in his blood, he kept it well hidden. 

"Please do, dear Andy. No child deserves a curse such as this, least of all such a dear boy", Willow begged, tears coming into her eyes as well at the thought.

"My blood is diluted with human, and I am nowhere near as powerful as a witch. But, m'lady, I believe I can soften it." he placed a delicate, gentle hand on the child's head. "The day you fall in love, you shall fall into a slumber that keeps you alive and well, until the object of your true love proves that they reciprocate." 

Willow looked at him. "This will take a lot of power to sustain."

"When the time comes, if it does at all, I will watch over him. I can sustain the magic if I am close by."

As the years passed, the two women grew fearful for their son. They did not wish for him to fall into the slumber, but they didn't want him to suffer, or be overly sheltered, either. When he was old enough, they sat him down and told him about the curse. He was a wise boy, and heeded their words of caution. "We don't want to stop you from living, but we want you to be safe. We didn't want to keep this from you." He heeded their words to live his life, and be cautious about who he fell for. But, they needn't have worried. Charles had friends, and although he was close to all of them, any proposal of marriage was turned down. 

The cat, who was always watching over him, protective, stayed by his side throughout his life, always at his heels to provide comfort and safety. Prince Charles lavished the cat with all of the affection and care he had in his heart naturally in return. The two were constant companions, exploring the kingdom and castle together. They were inseparable. 

Sometimes the cat seemed sad, but the Prince would always pet and hold him in those times, and he would seem to be comforted. Some of the young ladies that visited, hoping to gain the Prince's attention were jealous.

"He pays more attention to that animal than to women. It's not right", they complained.

His mothers, however guilty it made them (super guilty) were secretly glad that their son hadn't fallen for one of the young women or men. If the cat made him happy, let it stay. Both the queens were fond of it as well.

But alas, a week after Charles' fifteenth birthday, they found him asleep in a dining room chair. Nothing they did could wake him up, and however much it made them weep (a lot) they had to conclude that he had at last fallen in love.

They put him in his room, tucked him into bed, wishing that they were simply putting him to sleep as they had done before. The cat meowed pitifully, and settled on the bed at Charles' side, resting his head on the boy's arm. Andrew quietly settled down into a chair and fell asleep also.

At first, the queens couldn't bear to see their son so lifeless. But scarcely a week had gone by, when Tara opened the door. She watched the rise and fall of her son's chest, only noticeable if you stared for minutes on end, so deep was his sleep, and wished that he would wake.

The cat got up only to care for basic needs, and besides that never left the prince's side. It seemed like he, too, was in deep mourning.

The queens told a story about Charles' visit to a faraway kingdom to court a princess and the kingdom of the Sun accepted it. But the queens wept at night, knowing that in just the next room their son was in a sleep so deep he would probably never wake up.

Four years later, Willow had to leave the castle. There was a war three kingdoms over, and she needed to sort out sixteen killings of her countrymen. "I will be back in a week, darling", she told Tara. "I wish I didn't have to go."

Tara didn't want her beloved to go, but knew she had to. "I will be waiting for you."

Once Willow was gone, Tara opened the door of her son's room to check on Andrew, who still needed food and water, and had to be woken every six hours. She didn't hear the front door open.

It was opened by a girl from a neighboring kingdom, not the one Xander was from but the other side. She had heard the story of the prince and didn't believe it.

Once the queen and Andrew were in the kitchen, the girl crept up the stairs. She wondered what room belonged to the Prince, and opened each door she came across. Once reaching the right bedroom, she walked inside.

Seeing the sleeping Charles, she gasped. She thought she was in love, to see such beauty. She walked up to the bed and took his hand. 

The cat hissed when she did this. As she bent down to kiss him, the feline howled with fury and clawed her arm. She screamed and slapped him, but the cat hissed harder. As she bent a second time, he clawed her face. She screamed louder, and Tara and Andrew, who were already running to the room upon hearing the first scream, ran faster. The cat growled at the girl, while a quiet groan was heard.

Tara burst into the room. "What is the meaning of this!", she screamed upon seeing a strange girl strangling the cat in her son's room. She was sprawled over the bed with her hands around the poor thing's neck.

She fell off at hearing the queen's scream. She whirled round to find the enraged duo.

"Please you majesty...I am your son's true love! I will break the curse with a kiss!"

A louder groan was heard. Charles opened his eyes for the first time in four years.

"Blegh", he spat. "Morning mouth."

The girl swooned and sighed. "Oh, my beloved, I have broken your curse with a kiss!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Uh", he said intelligently.

"Excuse me", said a quiet voice. "Not to take away credit where credit is due, but I believe it was me who broke the curse."

Everybody turned. Where the poor cat had been tossed to the floor, now sat a young man of perhaps fourteen. He had deep blue eyes, sandy brown hair, and was looking at the prince with an expression of deep affection.

"Wes!", cried Charles. Tara remembered that this was the cat's nickname. "I thought you were a cat."

"I was. I was one of the fae who took you from your abusive mother. I was but a child then, and I have grown up with you and known you your whole life. I was assigned to protect you with my life, dear Charles, and bound to the feline form. Now that the danger my sisters and brothers sensed is over, I have been unbound and may shift."

Charles tried to get up, but stumbled. Wes ran to him on instinct, and helped him up. "Don't move to fast. You've been in this bed for four years."

When Willow returned, the girl was put on trial for attempted molestation, and found guilty, and she was put in jail. Charles told Wes of his love (which he had already known of and reciprocated) he proposed. Wes smiled kindly and accepted, but told him they should wait, because the magic had kept Charles physically as well as mentally fifteen. Jasmine was hunted down, her magic was bound, and she was put on trial for child abuse, found guilty, and also put in jail.

When four years had again passed, Charles married Wes. Because his mothers were very old indeed now, he took over the kingdom. He and his beloved ruled the kingdom wisely and well.

And they fought, sometimes, because even the 'perfect couple' (Willow and Tara) fought. But they always made up. 

**Author's Note:**

> Please tell me if it sucked?


End file.
